


Life Beyond the Shore

by theanonymousj



Series: Fire Emblem Musings [4]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Bittersweet, Bittersweet Ending, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 12:52:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11646945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theanonymousj/pseuds/theanonymousj
Summary: *SPOILER WARNING*Kaden must face life without Azura, and finds it difficult to return to raising his children.





	Life Beyond the Shore

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone else feel like Azura's husband should have been able to mourn her death? Cause I sure did.

 “Kaden…”

Already on his knees, his hands tightly wrapped about Azura’s, Kaden’s watery eyes let slip a few salty tears. Corrin shuffled back reluctantly, giving the couple some space.

“Can I see you smile for me… one last time?”

The glowing blue eating away at her skin climbed her collarbone, her neck, scaled her sharp jawline hungry for more. She sighed with pain as her fingers, then her palm turned to air in her husband’s clasp.

“One more smile… before I go…”

Tears pouring down his cheeks, the kitsune forced his best smile onto his lips, a bitter taste behind them and a lump the size of his fist stuck in his throat. He wanted desperately to speak but was robbed of his speech by a stifled sob.

“That’s right… my love…”

With a final gasp of breath her body broke away into a million dazzling shards, bubbles that rose into the air and burst into nothing. Not on piece of her, not a lock of hair, not even a shred of her dress was left. Kaden rolled onto the floor where seconds ago his wife had been, involuntarily letting go of a long, mournful howl. His heart skipped a beat, stilling like Azura’s must have in that last moment, and then it throbbed back to life. Suddenly a great darkness clouded his vision, the likes of which had never dimmed the bright light of his life, even in times of war as they had faced in the past few years, even in the face of fallen friends. The piercing pain behind his ribcage burned harshly as his mind churned into oblivion and the repeating memory of Azura’s aching body turning to glittering dust.

Around Kaden, who couldn’t help but let forth another howl, one that simmered down to a pained whine, the room was silent but for the occasional shaking breath of a sobbing comrade. Corrin simply felt empty – first Lilith, then Elise, far too young to die, then Xander, who shouldn’t have been overpowered by his ‘little prince,’ and now finally Azura; not to mention the losses of Flora and Kaze still stinging like fresh wounds. The others, Sakura mostly, had taken Elise and Xander’s deaths in their stride, but Azura had been akin to a sister and the sudden and unexpected loss of a sibling was a heavy weight to bear, even in the face of victory and peace.

But even Corrin in all his pain felt that victory, where Kaden could not. His soul was consumed by a terrible loneliness, a helplessness, a crippling desire to follow his beloved to the other side. All love of life, the thrill of just being in the world, was simply gone, and in its place was bleakness. Cold, unseen hands constricted his breathing, pressing down on his throat as he tried to howl – and howls became whines became the smallest of whimpers, until the kitsune was a sobbing wreck among the ruins of the Nohrian castle.

The long trek back to Hoshido was quite therapeutic for the group. Plenty of fresh air and time to take in the scenery without having to constantly watch out of an ambush soothed the mourning minds of the group. All except for Kaden, who trudged back to the palace without so much as making eye contact with any of his friends. All light and laughter drained of him, he now dreaded returning to the place he’d once called home, once when he’d been truly and deeply in love with the most wonderful wife.

And waiting for him there, in the top of the west wing, would be his children. For most, seeing their family was a motivation to keep moving, despite terrible weather and aching bones. But Kaden dreaded seeing his brood now. It had been perhaps half a year since he’d looked upon his children, and now all he would see in them was Azura. Especially Shigure, who looked more and more like his mother every day. Of course they also didn’t know of the tragedy yet, the realisation that their upbringing would be motherless was still so fresh to Kaden that he couldn’t be sure he’d be able to depart such information to them – although Selkie was only two years old, but that only meant she would never know her mother. Perhaps the few memories Shigure had would inspire him in troubled times, but Selkie would have no such privilege, no such opportunity to remember what could have been. Perhaps Selkie was blessed for not knowing what she’d lost.

The day the party finally arrived in Hoshido was a day of celebration. Kaden hid himself away in the palace as quickly as he could, not nearly in any mood to accept such frivolous fun – the cost of victory, of peace everlasting, seemed far too great. Azura’s life had meant more to him than any of this. There had to have been another way.

Shigure appeared, dressed in smart white clothes, blue hair (the very same as his mother’s) combed back from his face, and ran toward his father, and automatically Kaden scooped up his son. But he could not meet those blue eyes, nor bring himself to card his fingers through that soft azure hair. And Shigure of course had to be the quiet, sensitive child, and so he asked why his father seemed so upset.

Kaden cried again, had the maid take Shigure away, far out of his sight. He confined himself to his own quarters, bypassing the empty bed for the deep pile rug – a much less intimate space, much easier to face for one with such a broken heart. He curled up there, spent the night miserable, fully clothed, wondering if Shigure had figured it out. After all, Kaden had never returned alone before, never rejected his precious children.

A week passed. Kaden spent the hours locked away in his quarters, quite unable to face the world. He couldn’t bring himself to wash or eat, to talk to any of his friends, not even to sleep in the bed. In the nursery Selkie and Shigure waited for their parents, watching their friends come and go with their own loved ones. It took Shigure a couple of days to catch onto the pity and soft smiles of sympathy, to figure out that for the pair of them to be abandoned something truly awful must have happened.

Then Kaden found the strength to wash and brush his fur out, to change his clothes. The onset of energy was quite sudden, his parental instincts kicking in and reminding him that he had children who needed him. The nursery was quiet when he reached it, most of the children laying down for nap time, but Shigure as always was wide awake. He took his father’s hand and followed him to a small room, a private space away from the others.

“Shigure, do you remember Kaze?”

These were not the first words he expected to hear from his father, but he did indeed remember Kaze. He nodded.

“Remember I told you that Kaze passed on to the next world?”

Shigure nodded again, “has mummy gone there too?”

A lump formed in Kaden’s throat and he pulled his son close so he wouldn’t see his father cry.

“Yes,” he managed, voice strained, “mummy has gone to the next world.”

Shigure latched onto his father, tiny hands grabbing onto the fabric of Kaden’s jacket. Kaden returned the gesture, arms encompassing Shigure in comforting warmth. The young boy began to sob in Kaden’s arms, the tears wetting a patch of the blue material until he felt his father’s fingers running through his hair, his voice hushing and soothing him. The tears stopped and Kaden released his son. Silently they stood and returned to the creche to collect a sleeping Selkie and return to their rooms.

X

Shigure sat by the lake, meditating on the days following his mother’s death, mind far away from whatever game Selkie was playing with the other kids. He looked out across the rippling water, the gentle blue waves lapping at his feet on the bank, imagining his mother taking in the very same view years ago, maybe singing or maybe standing in perfect silence. He didn’t remember her so well now; in fact his memories of her were mostly her angelic voice and the delicate melodies she sang him to sleep with.

Then he looked down into the water, staring at his reflection. He looked a lot like her, his father often said, all slender elegance and sky blue hair. He had her angular features and cerulean eyes, and most importantly her talent for singing. The image in the water warped for a moment, and Shigure swore that instead of his reflection staring back at him, his mother was smiling lovingly at her son just beneath the surface. He reached out to touch the vision.

“Big brother! Come and play!”

Selkie bounced on her heels impatiently as Shigure smiled back at his sister, beginning to stand. He glanced back at the water to see the image of his mother had disappeared – of course it had, it had probably been a trick of the light anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, please validate me with kudos and comments.


End file.
